On Wednesday evening, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics brought themselves to within one game of winning this year's NBA championship by defeating Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on the road. Tatum had far and away his best game of the series in this one, scoring 31 points on much improved shooting efficiency, and also received plenty of help from Celtics costar Jaylen Brown, who poured in 30 points of his own to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists.
Much has been made so far this series of Tatum's shooting struggles through the first two games and whether or not that could impact his chances of winning Finals MVP if (when) the Celtics when the series.
However, one person who doesn't seem to give much thought to those debates is Tatum himself.
“Man, I want everyone to be at their best,” said Tatum, via Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. “I want everyone to contribute. Winning will take care of everything.
“…Finals MVP or whatever, a champion is a champion. That's the goal. I want for my teammates what I want for myself. I want everybody to shine. There's enough attention for all of us. And so, I want everybody to give us theirs.”
Tatum also spoke on his own personal motivation in these Finals after the team's loss in 2022 vs the Golden State Warriors.
“Because I've been here before, and I know what it's like to lose (in the Finals) and that was the worst feeling ever,” said Tatum. “That was the worst summer I've ever had. I made the All-Star team five times. I'm All-NBA first team year after year. The only thing they said I haven't done is win. I just vowed to myself that if I ever got back to the Finals, then I would literally do whatever I needed to do to ensure that we have a different outcome.”
It sure looks like the Celtics are going to have a different outcome in 2024 than they did in 2022, as no team in NBA history has ever blown a 3-0 lead in any series, let alone the Finals.
A balanced approach
There's a legitimate argument to be made that if the Celtics do finish this series off, that Tatum is the “worst” best player on a championship team in 20 years since the 2004 Detroit Pistons. Generally, a team needs a true once in a lifetime, transcendent talent to compete for a championship, something that the Celtics don't have.
However, this Celtics' roster was essentially built in a lab to be the perfect model for success in the modern NBA. Boston has immense size, shooting all over the floor, elite defense from everyone in their starting lineup, and essentially starts an All-Star team–Jrue Holiday, Boston's fifth option when everyone is healthy, was indeed an All-Star in 2023.
Of course, the closeout games are always the toughest, as Tatum and company likely know by this point in their career, so they will have to put together their best performance yet to hoist the trophy on Dallas' home floor Friday evening.
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